Chapter Summaries

Song Ning and Gu Zheng pieced together how the factory’s linked controls concealed the tunnel and furnace, then searched the underground rooms for a way out. The chapter ended when Gu Zheng spotted extra footprints in the back half of the radio room.

• Song Ning and Gu Zheng concluded that linked electrical controls automatically sealed the tunnel and stopped the furnace after a set time.
• Gu Zheng explained that the ventilation duct was too steep to climb and its hinged grille could not be opened from below, leaving both of them trapped.
• Gu Zheng questioned Song Ning about Li Zekun and scolded her for entering danger instead of waiting for help.
• Song Ning and Gu Zheng searched the first six rooms again but found nothing useful in the darkroom’s photographs.
• Gu Zheng and Song Ning inspected the radio room, where Gu Zheng noticed more footprints in its back half.

Song Ning and Gu Zheng investigated a worn patch in the seventh room and suspected it concealed a weight-triggered mechanism. When Song Ning had Gu Zheng lift and hold her while standing on the patch, a sound came from the room.

• Song Ning noticed that the seventh room had far more footprints than the others, while Gu Zheng found a gap between its floor and walls, suggesting the floor could move and an underground space lay below.
• Song Ning and Gu Zheng searched the room for a mechanism but found no buttons, recesses, or other obvious controls.
• Gu Zheng and Song Ning investigated a shiny, worn patch in one corner and considered whether it might be a pressure switch activated by enough weight.
• After standing together on the patch failed to trigger anything, Song Ning asked Gu Zheng to stand there and hold her.
• Gu Zheng lifted Song Ning in his arms, and a sound came from somewhere in the room.

Song Ning and Gu Zheng descended into a hidden underground facility and discovered a self-destruct countdown with only thirty minutes to escape. They searched the rooms for an exit while collecting evidence, then found a strange electronic scale and a sequence of numbers that might reveal a clue.

• Gu Zheng and Song Ning descended by a weight-triggered elevator and found a lower level with an additional control room.
• Song Ning adjusted the weight sensor, but Gu Zheng recognized the countdown as a self-destruct timer and warned that they had twenty-five minutes left.
• Song Ning and Gu Zheng turned on the lights, set the sensor to keep others from descending, and split up to search for an exit.
• Song Ning searched the rooms, found scientific research data and other evidence, and discovered no deeper level or obvious exit.
• Gu Zheng showed Song Ning an electronic platform scale that displayed no weight, along with a blackboard bearing the sequence “13, 1113, 3113,” which appeared to follow a pattern.

Song Ning and Gu Zheng discovered that a metal door opened only when its heart-rate sensor reached 150, and they had to raise their readings before the countdown ended. Song Ning kissed Gu Zheng to make his heart race, but the chapter ended before they knew whether they could reach the target in time.

• Song Ning entered the numbers 132113 on the keypad, revealing a hidden door in the storeroom.
• Song Ning and Gu Zheng discovered that touching a metal patch displayed their heart rates and that the door required a reading above 150.
• Song Ning and Gu Zheng exercised, but neither could raise the reading high enough before time ran short.
• Song Ning realized that touching Gu Zheng's hand made him nervous and raised the reading, then kissed his cheek to raise it further.
• With only seconds left and the reading at 140, Song Ning kissed Gu Zheng again.

Gu Zheng and Song Ning escaped the underground base as it exploded, then returned documents about the K organization to the police. After Gu Zheng questioned Song Ning’s identity, she found that someone had tampered with her map, which was connected to Old Man Song.

• Gu Zheng shielded Song Ning as they escaped the underground base before the explosions buried its entrance.
• Song Ning and Gu Zheng rested, shared a tomato and cucumber, and agreed to forget the kiss she had used to raise his heart rate.
• Gu Zheng and Song Ning reached the surface, handed documents about the K organization to Yang Qi, and Song Ning left with Han Xiao.
• Gu Zheng wondered whether Song Ning had replaced the girl from Yakou Village and whether her arrival in Yanling was connected to the secret base.
• Song Ning read two pages about acrylonitrile polymerization, concluded the organization was connected to Old Man Song, and discovered someone had tampered with her map.

Song Ning realized Gu Zheng had long suspected her because the map she borrowed had been folded by a right-handed person, and she grew angry at his hidden investigation. The next morning, she rebuffed Gu Zheng and shut the door on him, leaving him confused.

• Song Ning recognized that the map had been refolded with the right hand and realized Gu Zheng had suspected her while investigating places connected to Old Man Song.
• Song Ning recalled Gu Zheng and his men’s unusual attention to her, became furious, and went to bed early.
• Gu Zheng noticed Song Ning’s light go out and wondered why she had gone to bed so early.
• Zhang Mingtao visited Song Ning to check on her, and she invited him in and helped him with a study problem.
• Gu Zheng arrived with breakfast and asked to talk, but Song Ning said she was busy studying and gave his food to Zhang Mingtao.
• Song Ning called Gu Zheng “Cousin” and slammed the door, leaving him bewildered.

Song Ning focused on preparing for the National College Entrance Examination while keeping Gu Zheng and Han Xiao at a distance, and chose a military medical university in Capital City. On the eve of the exam, Gu Zheng wished her luck, but she shut the door on him; the chapter foreshadowed that she would disappear after the exam.

• Zhang Mingtao brought Song Ning breakfast, and they agreed to study together every other day.
• Song Ning stayed home to review and politely rebuffed Gu Zheng and Han Xiao when they tried to discuss the case; Gu Zheng wondered if the kiss during her kidnapping had made her uncomfortable.
• On June 25, Song Ning submitted her university preferences, choosing Capital Military Medical University because she wanted to build her future in Capital City and find her family.
• Zhang Mingtao changed his own first choice to a university in Capital City after seeing Song Ning's preference.
• Gu Zheng sent Song Ning supplies through Han Xiao, but she accepted them without inviting either man inside.
• On the eve of the exam, Song Ning showed Gu Zheng her backup stationery and admission tickets, then shut the door after he wished her luck; the narration revealed that she would vanish after the exam.

After finishing her college entrance exams, Song Ning left Yanling for Luyuan Town to deal with Yao Qianjin before he could interfere with her plans. She gave the fool snap firecrackers and left him playing near the firewood and straw-covered pens, then slipped away as a neighbor heard the noise.

• Song Ning completed her exams and declined Gu Zheng's invitation to celebrate, saying she needed to rest.
• After Gu Zheng took her home, Song Ning picked up her packed luggage, left Zhang Xuemei a note, and caught the last bus to Luyuan Town.
• Song Ning learned that Yao Qianjin's house had burned down and that his family had moved back to their old staff housing.
• Song Ning found the fool watching television and gave him a bag of snap firecrackers, teaching him to say that Daniu had given them to him.
• Song Ning tied up a hen, left the courtyard gate open, and slipped away while the fool played firecrackers beside the firewood and pens.
• A neighbor heard the firecrackers and warned the fool not to start a fire, but his wife urged him to leave the fool alone and watch that the fire did not spread to their house.

Song Ning visited Zhang Fen in the hospital and confronted Mayor Yao Qianjin, explaining that her relatives had secretly sold her despite her existing engagement to a soldier. She used her knowledge of concealed land figures to secure Yao’s promise not to obstruct her college entrance exam vetting, then learned he had not sent her relatives to cause trouble at the Education Bureau.

• Song Ning arrived at the hospital with an old hen and found Zhang Fen speaking with her husband, Mayor Yao Qianjin, about the fire Song Ning had helped them escape.
• Zhang Fen recognized Song Ning as her rescuer, and Yao realized she was the bride who had fled his brother Erniu’s wedding.
• Song Ning asked Yao about the cultivated land figures in several villages, alarming him, then explained that her uncle and aunt had secretly sold her despite her engagement to a soldier.
• Song Ning asked Yao to let her pass the August fifteenth political vetting for the National College Entrance Examination, and she swore not to reveal the land figures.
• Yao agreed to her request but denied sending Song Chengbing and his family to cause trouble at the Education Bureau, leaving Song Ning to realize someone else had put them up to it.

Song Ning used the evidence of Yao Qianjin’s grain embezzlement to plan how to protect her university admission, then stayed overnight in the town Guesthouse while avoiding the men following her. After hearing that Yao’s home had burned again and learning about his previous wife’s death, she left town as Yao confronted Erniu about who had given him the firecrackers.

• Song Ning checked into the town Guesthouse under Song Caijuan’s name and learned that Yao Qianjin’s embezzlement would eventually be exposed when farmland was measured.
• Song Ning checked the Guesthouse arrivals, spotted a Military Jeep parked near the grain administration office, and realized that someone was still following her.
• Song Ning heard that Yao Qianjin’s home had caught fire again and learned that his intellectually disabled brother’s previous wife had been tortured and died in winter.
• Song Ning left the Guesthouse carrying a hen and waited for a ride at the town school while Yao Qianjin demanded that Erniu tell him who had given him the Snapper Firecrackers.

Yao Qianjin’s questioning failed to uncover who had supplied Erniu and Huzi with snap bangs, leaving the house fire without a clear culprit. Song Ning learned that her brother Song Wang was suddenly holding a wedding feast and rushed to confront her family.

• Erniu and Huzi both claimed that someone named Daniu had given them money for snap bangs, but neither could identify that person among those questioned.
• The salesclerk said Huzi had bought all the snap bangs at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, while the cook said he knew nothing about the rest.
• Song Ning met Li Chunping, who told her he was traveling to attend Song Wang’s wedding feast.
• Song Ning realized she had not seen Song Wang in nearly two years and grew suspicious about his sudden marriage.
• After seeing wedding decorations and preparations at Song Chengbing’s home, Song Ning rushed inside to find out what Song Chengbing and Yang Yindi were doing.

Song Ning returned home and discovered that Song Chengbing and Yang Yindi had arranged for her brother, Song Wang, to marry Widow Yu. She learned that Song Wang had given Yang Yindi his savings and was marrying into Widow Yu’s family, while the wedding guests waited outside.

• Song Ning choked and slapped Song Jinbao until he revealed that Song Wang had gone to fetch the bride from Widow Yu’s house.
• Song Ning saw Song Wang approaching with Widow Yu dressed as his bride and pulled him back into the house.
• Song Ning shut the door against Yang Yindi and the guests, then asked Song Wang why he had returned and agreed to marry Widow Yu.
• Song Wang explained that Yang Yindi had summoned him and said he had given her three hundred from his savings, while Widow Yu had paid his family a hundred.
• Song Ning realized Song Wang was marrying into Widow Yu’s family and that Yang Yindi had taken the money from both transactions.

Song Ning exposed her uncle and aunt’s exploitation and abuse of her and Song Wang before the village, then declared that the siblings would cut ties with their family. The chapter ended with Song Wang admitting that he had chosen to marry Widow Yu, leaving Song Ning stunned.

• Song Ning stopped Song Chengbing and Yang Yindi from forcing the wedding forward and used Song Jinbao as a shield against them.
• Song Ning told the villagers that her uncle and aunt had taken the siblings’ inheritance and labor, and she showed them the scars left by years of abuse.
• Song Ning accused Yang Yindi of arranging unwanted marriages for her and Song Wang, and announced that the siblings were cutting ties with the family.
• Widow Yu arrived and claimed that Song Wang had asked to marry her and move into her household.
• Song Ning asked Song Wang whether he had chosen the marriage, and he admitted that he had.

Song Ning confronted Widow Yu and the people backing her as they tried to force Song Wang into marriage, while Song Wang feared a scandal could ruin Song Ning’s National College Entrance Examination background check. The standoff remained unresolved, with Widow Yu threatening to report Song Wang and Song Ning facing the leverage she held over him.

• Song Wang said he would marry Widow Yu and stay in the village so Song Ning would have somewhere to return to, but Song Ning tore down the wedding sign and refused the marriage.
• Widow Yu mocked Song Ning and insisted that she had no right to decide for Song Wang, while Song Ning declared herself his only living relative and the only one entitled to decide for him.
• A bespectacled guest arranged for most of the wedding guests to leave, then the courtyard gate was shut as a dozen unfamiliar people remained.
• Song Ning demanded that Yang Yindi open the gate and used Song Jinbao as leverage, while Song Wang told her to leave without him and planned to register his marriage with Widow Yu.
• Song Ning fought off two men who tried to approach her, then challenged Yu Shuilian to reveal her trump card.
• Widow Yu claimed that Song Wang had slept with her and threatened to report him, and Song Wang pleaded with Song Ning to protect her examination prospects from a failed political background check.

Song Ning defended Song Wang against Widow Yu and Section Chief Han, who tried to force a marriage or demand money before turning to violence. As hired fighters surrounded the siblings, Song Ning invoked her supposed sworn brother Pan TuozI, but the men attacked anyway.

• Song Ning mocked Widow Yu's claim that Song Wang had assaulted her and dared her to report it, while Song Wang handed her steamed buns.
• Widow Yu charged Song Ning, who tripped her and injured her ankle.
• Section Chief Han demanded that Song Wang marry Widow Yu or pay five hundred, and Song Ning refused while threatening to report the family's crimes.
• Han ordered his men to seize Song Wang and Song Ning, revealing he planned to sell Song Ning to Mayor Yao or another buyer.
• Song Ning pulled Song Wang aside, used Song Jinbao as leverage, and claimed Pan TuozI was her sworn older brother.
• Han ordered the hired fighters to attack, and Song Ning kicked two men away and blocked another's punch.

Song Ning and her allies defeated the men who had come to seize her, recovered Song Wang’s 300 yuan, and demanded compensation from Song Chengbing and Yang Yindi. Gu Zheng played along as a gangster and set his gun on the table to force Song Chengbing to write an IOU.

• Song Ning called for backup, and Gu Zheng, Han Xiao, and Yang Qi vaulted into the courtyard and beat the attackers down.
• Song Ning confronted Song Chengbing and Yang Yindi, and her threat to hit Song Jinbao made him pass out.
• Han Xiao and Yang Qi searched the house and found the money Yang Yindi had taken.
• Song Ning returned 300 yuan to Song Wang and demanded another 500 yuan from Song Chengbing and Yang Yindi for occupying the house and taking money over the years.
• Song Ning ordered Han Xiao to get an IOU, and Gu Zheng drew his gun and set it on the table when Song Chengbing refused to write.

Song Ning collected part of the debt from Song Chengbing and presented their written agreement to the village chief, who acknowledged how Song Ning and her brother had been mistreated. After the militia arrested Han’s group and Song Chengbing’s family, Song Ning resolved to take charge before her four “cousins” could act.

• Song Ning kept one hundred yuan from Song Chengbing, recorded it toward the debt, and told him he still owed four hundred yuan.
• The village chief and militia arrived with Chen Liang, who ordered the militia to arrest Han and the thugs he had brought.
• Song Ning explained her claim to the money and property, and the village chief admitted that the village had failed her and urged Song Chengbing to honor the agreement.
• After Han demanded that Song Chengbing’s family be arrested too, the militia took Song Chengbing, Yang Yindi, and the unconscious Song Jinbao away.
• With the courtyard quiet, Song Ning reconsidered the arrival of all four “cousins” and decided to take charge before they could deal with her.

Song Ning reassured Song Wang that she trusted him and explained how their aunt and Yu Shuilian had set him up. After sharing a meal with the military comrades, Song Wang asked whether the man their grandfather had once arranged for Song Ning to marry was among them.

• Song Ning comforted Song Wang and explained that Yang Yindi and Yu Shuilian had arranged the trap to control the siblings and get paid.
• Gu Zheng praised Song Ning for trusting Song Wang, and she explained that his character and ability to hold his liquor convinced her he had been drugged.
• Song Ning prepared a meal with Song Wang and the comrades after Chen Liang and Yang Qi returned from dealing with the thugs.
• At the table, Song Ning explained how glycerin reacted with potassium permanganate and how the code 132113 followed a number-description sequence.
• Song Wang asked Song Ning whether one of the comrades was the man Grandpa had arranged for her to marry.

Song Ning reassured her brother that the soldiers were only protecting her, then secretly tried to escape into Lianwu Mountain. Gu Zheng followed her into a maze-like cave, and she aimed to trap him there long enough to get away.

• Song Ning told Song Wang that the army comrades had followed her to protect her after a near accident, and the group finished their meal together.
• Chen Liang and Yang Qi helped the public security officers escort the arrested thugs to the county seat, while Song Ning spoke privately with Song Wang.
• Song Ning drugged the medicinal liquor, slipped out of the house at three in the morning, and headed into the mountains.
• Song Ning waited at a fork in the trail and confirmed that Gu Zheng had followed her before leading him toward a natural cave.
• Song Ning lured Gu Zheng into the cave’s looping passage, hoping to keep him trapped for an hour so she could escape.

Song Ning escaped Gu Zheng by crossing Lianwu Mountain and headed toward Zhu City, planning to find Lao Jiang and then seek help from her maternal grandfather. Song Wang left Yakou Village to prepare a new home, while Song Ning learned that rumors about Li Zekun’s disappearance blamed his sister and the man who had questioned her.

• Song Ning lured Gu Zheng into the looping mountain passage, escaped through its concealed entrance, and crossed Lianwu Mountain to Kaoshan Village.
• Song Ning took a bus to Zhu City, intending to find Lao Jiang in Yu City and later seek her maternal grandfather’s help locating Old Man Song.
• Song Wang found his sister and the two military comrades gone, then followed Song Ning’s instructions and left Yakou Village to prepare their new home.
• At the Zhu City bus station, Song Ning read a liquidation notice about Li Zekun’s factory and heard a newspaper seller claim Li had fled after setting a fire.
• The newspaper seller said Li Zekun’s sister had revealed information to a man who reported it to the police, and Song Ning privately condemned the man for deceiving the young woman.